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D. Mockler

Publications and source records attributed to D. Mockler.

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Full-sky searches for anisotropies in UHECR arrival directions with the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array

The arrival directions of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays appear to be approximately isotropically distributed over the whole sky, but the last-generation UHECR detector arrays, the Pierre Auger Observatory (Auger) and the Telescope Array (TA), have detected thousands of events, allowing us to study small deviations from isotropy. So far, Auger has detected a large-scale anisotropy consistent with a $\sim 6.5\%$ dipole moment in the distribution of cosmic rays with $E > 8$~EeV, and both collaborations have reported indications for smaller-scale anisotropies at higher energies. On the other hand, neither array has full-sky coverage, the Auger field of view being limited to declinations $δ< +45^\circ$ and the TA one to $δ> -16^\circ$. Searches for anisotropies with full-sky coverage thus require combining data from both arrays. A working group with members from both collaborations has been established for this task. Since even a minor systematic error in the energy determinations at either of the arrays could result in a sizeable spurious anisotropy along the north--south axis, we devised a method to cross-calibrate the energy scales of the two experiments with respect to each other by using events in a declination band within the intersection of their fields of view. In this contribution, we report on both updates on blind searches for anisotropies and the first full-sky studies of flux models based on possible local extragalactic sources.

astro-ph.HE

Covering the celestial sphere at ultra-high energies

Despite deflections by Galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields, the distribution of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) over the celestial sphere remains a most promising observable for the identification of their sources. Thanks to a large number of detected events over the past years, a large-scale anisotropy at energies above 8 EeV has been identified, and there are also indications from the Telescope Array and Pierre Auger Collaborations of deviations from isotropy at intermediate angular scales (about 20 degrees) at the highest energies. In this contribution, we map the flux of UHECRs over the full sky at energies beyond each of two major features in the UHECR spectrum -- the ankle and the flux suppression --, and we derive limits for anisotropy on different angular scales in the two energy regimes. In particular, full-sky coverage enables constraints on low-order multipole moments without assumptions about the strength of higher-order multipoles. Following previous efforts from the two Collaborations, we build full-sky maps accounting for the relative exposure of the arrays and differences in the energy normalizations. The procedure relies on cross-calibrating the UHECR fluxes reconstructed in the declination band around the celestial equator covered by both observatories. We present full-sky maps at energies above 10 EeV and 50 EeV, using the largest datasets shared across UHECR collaborations to date. We report on anisotropy searches exploiting full-sky coverage and discuss possible constraints on the distribution of UHECR sources.

astro-ph.HE